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American Morning
Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda Followers Believed Trapped Up in Tora Bora Mountains
Aired December 14, 2001 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda followers are believed trapped up in the Tora Bora mountains with the noose tightening around them. U.S. fighter planes are unleashing a relentless stream of bombs on suspected Al Qaeda positions, while American and anti-Taliban troops forge ahead in a ground assault. According to an Afghan commander, Al Qaeda has suffered heavy casualties and is essentially finished. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he would prefer the fighters surrender than be killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If they surrender, they may come out alive. If they don't surrender, they may not. And it's kind of their choice. I personally would like to see people surrender. I personally would like to see us get our hands on them and be able to interrogate them and find out about the Al Qaeda networks all across the globe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Our own Ben Wedeman spoke by radio today with Al Qaeda fighters, but they would not answer questions about bin Laden or a possible surrender.
Another perspective now. As the hunt for Osama bin Laden escalates, Miles O'Brien is back with us from CNN Center.
How are you this morning?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you. Doing well. Doing well.
Clear we're in the endgame here, perhaps unclear if Osama bin Laden is in the Tora Bora region. No one knows for sure. But given the intensity of the fighting there, some reason to believe that U.S. forces and -- or forces supported by the U.S. -- I should say the Eastern Alliance -- getting very close to what might be what they are after.
Let's turn now to our military analyst General Don Shepperd and get some insights into all of this.
What does your gut tell you? Is Osama bin Laden in this valley, which is being encircled right now by forces supported by the U.S.?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Miles, I firmly believe he is, and I believe endgame the right word. We are approaching the end here. If you think of these valleys, think of north-south valleys, the Augam Valley (ph) on the east, the Wazar (ph) Valley on the west, and a large mountain range in between. Think of the Aspen ski area, Aspen snow range, think of Vail (ph) ski complex. That's the kind of area that you are talking about. Still a very big area, laced with caves, lots of places to hide. But I believe he's there. I believe we have him surrounded.
O'BRIEN: All right, as we look at animation we put together this morning showing the Tora Bora region, you get a sense that we've talked about this so many times, it may sound a bit redundant, but the fact is, this is incredibly mountainous terrain, tremendous number of places to hide. Let's talk about some of the capabilities and the tactics that are being employed by the U.S. forces right now. Number one, finding these caves and these cave entrances, do you think at this juncture the U.S. pretty has those places pinpointed?
SHEPPERD: I think we've got the cave entrances pinpointed. But a lot of what happens underneath the ground is something we simply can not see. But remember, it's very likely that bin Laden is not in a cave, but rather in a military fortification. It's really been fortified and modified. Some made with CIA, money, if you will. So it's likely he's in a very well fortified money, underneath the ground, and will be very hard to find in the very end.
O'BRIEN: Perhaps more accurately called AN underground fortress. Let's look at some of the animation put together showing some of the tactics that might used and employed against caves. Location of the cave entrance obviously very key, these dark things right here. One of the weapons that could possibly be used is this HAVNAP (ph), which is an Israeli-built missile, which has capability of from flying nap- of-the-Earth type missions, almost a lateral attack into a cave entrance, can then, if it hits its target seal off the cave entrance.
The problem is, as we talked about so many times, is there's oftentimes more than one entrance, which we must contend with as this animation repeats one more time.
How do you guard against the possibility that shutting off one entrance merely sends people out the other side?
SHEPPERD: Well, you've got to have good intelligence that says, where are all the possible exits? And you do exactly what we are seeing right now on TV. You close every entrance that you know about, you surround the area, you leave the people that are in there only one entry and one exit, and then you bomb, and you in the end may have to go in and get them. It's dangerous, dangerous business.
ZAHN: General Don Shepperd, our military analyst, as always, we appreciate your insights.
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